Unit 9 Review – Atmospheric Circulation and Hurricanes
Vocabulary List convection polar cell eye convection cell polar easterlies eye wall angle of incidence (of the sun) prevailing westerlies hurricane season Coriolis effect trade winds inter-tropical convergence zone Hadley cell horse latitudes storm surge Ferrel cell doldrums Saffir-Simpson scale
Review Questions
1. Air masses circulate in the northern and southern hemisphere primarily through which form of heat transfer? ______
2. Convection currents move in air (and water) because of differences in ______
3. Wind always blows from area of ______to areas of ______
4. Why is the equator hotter than the poles?
5. What is the Coriolis effect?
6. Which direction (left or right) does the Coriolis effect cause air masses to deflect in the northern hemisphere? ______in the southern hemisphere? ______
7. Which direction will a missile fired from the north pole to the equator deflect relative to its target? ______
8. Between what latitudes is the Hadley cell? ______the Ferrel cell ______the polar cell ______
9. Hot air rising from the equator and drifting at high altitudes toward the horse latitudes forms part of which cell? ______
10. Where are the trade winds located? ______in which direction do they blow______they can also be called (pick one) easterlies/westerlies.
11. In the figure label the Hadley cells, Ferrel cells, polar cells, doldrums, horse latitudes, trade winds, prevailing westerlies, polar easterlies. 12. Which direction to hurricanes rotate in the northern hemisphere?______in the southern hemisphere?______
13. How long do hurricanes generally last? ______
14. The strongest winds in a hurricane are located at ______
15. When is the Atlantic hurricane season and when does it peak?
16. Hurricanes that strike the Texas coast may form in which three locations?
17. List the categories of storms and hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson scale from tropical depression to category 5 and identify the wind speeds associated with each category.
18. What 5 conditions are necessary for the formation of a hurricane?
19. Most damage from hurricanes is due to what?
20. Was most of the damage to New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina due to winds or flooding?
21. In the northern hemisphere, storm surge is greatest on which side of the hurricane?
22. What causes storm surge?
23. What was the deadliest hurricane in American history?______and the costliest in American history? ______(from the student powerpoints)
24. How would the tides (high or low) affect storm surge?